Jobless: Unemployment already tough to live on

Published: Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 06:24 PM.

The bill that passed the state House and Senate also triggers slightly higher business taxes, about$21 per employee.

And it allows unemployed workers to collect benefits for 12 to 20 weeks instead of the 26 weeks currently permitted.

The savings on benefits and money earned by the business tax are aimed at paying down North Carolina’s $2.5 billion debt to the federal government. The state borrowed the money to pay unemployment claims.

McCrory has indicated he will sign the bill that made it to his desk this week. That will make North Carolina the eighth state to roll back unemployment benefits.

A likely cap on unemployment checks sounded like more bad news in an already worrisome era for jobless Gaston residents this week.

A bill awaiting Gov. Pat McCrory’s signature — and expected to get it — will limit the benefits to a maximum $350 weekly for people who file after June 30. Today, the most an unemployed worker can collect is $535 per week.

None of the job seekers looking for help at the Division of Employment Security office Thursday were collecting as much as $350.

But most agreed even that amount would leave ends far from meeting.

Justin Brooks of Mount Holly has been jobless for a month.

“If you have children and a family you can’t support them for $350 a week,” said the 23-year-old, who has held at least one job, often two, since he got his first fast-food position at 16.

Brooks’ reasons for meeting with a job counselor Thursday had less to do with his unemployment check and more to do with his unwillingness to stay out of work.

“I can’t stand to do this much longer,” he said. “It’s a struggle. Everyday you just wake up and pray that you’ll find something.”

Christopher Glenn, a 44-year-old from Gastonia, lost his job as a powder coater Thursday. He was applying for benefits and searching for a new gig by that afternoon.

He isn’t sure how much he’ll be able to collect in unemployment insurance. But he thinks he could make it on $350 a week.

“I might struggle a little but I feel like I could get by,” he said. “It’s a start at least. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk.”

Jerry Hensley, 37, wasn’t so sure.

He’s earned jobless benefits in the past and never got near $350, he says.

Without help from family and friends he said he couldn’t have kept a roof over his head on the money he got from unemployment in the late 90s.

Richard Carter wishes he could qualify for $350.

An unemployed forklift operator, he brings in a little more than $300 a week now and manages to pay the rent on his Bessemer City home. Two older children pitch in to help cover the bills.

“We’re making it,” he said. “It’s just really, really tough.”

Background

North Carolina lawmakers signed off this week on a bill that would lower the maximum unemployment benefit to $350 starting in July.

Currently, a worker earning $40,000 would qualify for a little more than $400 weekly. The top benefit is $535.

The bill that passed the state House and Senate also triggers slightly higher business taxes, about$21 per employee.

And it allows unemployed workers to collect benefits for 12 to 20 weeks instead of the 26 weeks currently permitted.

The savings on benefits and money earned by the business tax are aimed at paying down North Carolina’s $2.5 billion debt to the federal government. The state borrowed the money to pay unemployment claims.

McCrory has indicated he will sign the bill that made it to his desk this week. That will make North Carolina the eighth state to roll back unemployment benefits.